08th February, 2023

1. Central Government, in collaboration with United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), is implementing a project called ‘Enhancing Circularity and Sustainability’ in India.
2. The Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma inaugurated the G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill for more than 400 domestic and international participants under India’s G20 presidency in New Delhi.
3. According to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises’ data, Maharashtra tops the list in sales of electric vehicles across all segments which have availed of the FAME II subsidy, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
4. A total of ₹7,980 crore has been committed to 99 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) for start-ups as on December 31, 2022.
5. First G-20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting began in Bengaluru.
6. Indian Railways is introducing Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ Scheme.
7. As on February 1st 2023, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has achieved a staggering Rs 5 lakh crore of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in FY23 alone.
8. Kerala has announced to establish the “Green Hydrogen Hubs” at a cost of Rs 200 crores.
9. Mr Manjunath Bhanjantri (District Commission of Deoghar, Jharkhand) has started the Deoghar Mart, an e-commerce website selling local arts and crafts.
10. Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation has built MV Ganga Vihar, a floating restaurant at the NIT Ghat on the Ganges.
11. Yaya Tso, known as birds’ paradise for its beautiful lake located at an altitude of 4,820 metres, has been proposed as Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site (BHS) under the Biological Diversity Act of 2002.
12. Kerala Police is operating the OPERATION AAG under the Kerala anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA) to arrest fugitives.
13. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the “Mukhyamantri Tirth-Darshan Yojana” to provide the option of flights to senior citizens of the state.
14. Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced a Global Climate Resilience Fund of $50 million for women to fight climate change.
15. Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has the highest number of moons up to 92.
16. Sri Lanka is celebrating 75 years of its independence on February 4 on the theme of Namo Namo Matha – A step towards a century.
17. Republic of Congo (simply Congo) has joined the International Solar Alliance as its 113th signatory.
18. International Energy Agency (IEA) has released ‘LiFE lessons from India’ report to save $440 billion of the world by 2030.
19. Alphabet Inc.’s Google has invested almost $400 million ($529.3 million) in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic (based in California), which is testing a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
20. US has emerged as India’s top destination for merchandise exports during April-December 2022 at USD 59.7 billion.
21. In reply to a question on startups, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash informed that Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) is implemented from April 2021.
22. February 5 – Guru Ravidas Jayanti (his birthday falls on Magh Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Magh)
23. NASA Webb Telescope has won Prestigious Space Foundation.
24. International Boxing Association (HQ – Lausanne, Switzerland) has released its world’s rankings as of February 8, 2023 –
25. S.D. Prajwal Dev and Nathan Seateun of France clinched the doubles final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

National News

1. Central Government, in collaboration with United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), is implementing a project called ‘Enhancing Circularity and Sustainability’ in India.
   • Purpose – to minimize the negative environmental impacts of Indian Textile by promoting sustainable practices and mainstreaming knowledge on circular production-based practices in the Textiles and Apparel sectors
   • Government has also approved 20 strategic research projects in the areas of Specialty fibres and geo textiles and amongst the 20 Research projects, 3 projects in the area of Textile waste recycling have also been approved.
2. The Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma inaugurated the G20 Cyber Security Exercise and Drill for more than 400 domestic and international participants under India’s G20 presidency in New Delhi.
   • Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) conducted this Cyber Security Exercise and drill in hybrid mode (Physical and Virtual).
   • Strategic Table Top Exercise (TTX) and Operational Drill were also conducted on CERT-In Exercise Platform.
   • The Strategic Table Top Exercise’s (TTX) theme is “Synergy to counter Global Cyber Crisis”.
   • The Operational Drill’s theme is “Building Collective Cyber Resilience”.

3. According to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises’ data, Maharashtra tops the list in sales of electric vehicles across all segments which have availed of the FAME II subsidy, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
   • The top five states collectively account for over 56% of the 0.85 million electric vehicles bought through the scheme.

4. A total of ₹7,980 crore has been committed to 99 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) for start-ups as on December 31, 2022.
   • The Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme was approved and established in 2016 with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, with contribution spread over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycle based on progress of implementation, to provide capital to the Indian startups.
   • Under FFS, the Scheme does not directly invest in startups, instead provides capital to SEBI-registered AIFs, known as daughter funds, who in turn invest money in Indian startups through equity and equity-linked instruments.
   • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been given the responsibility of choosing the AIFs and overseeing the disbursal of committed capital.
   • State-wise distribution of startups supported under FFS as on 31st December 2022 is as under:

5. First G-20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting began in Bengaluru.
6. Indian Railways is introducing Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ Scheme.
   • This “Garvi Gujarat” tour will depart on 28th February from Delhi Safdarjung Station.
7. As on February 1st 2023, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has achieved a staggering Rs 5 lakh crore of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in FY23 alone.
   • Going by the current pace, the GeM will exceed its annual target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
   • Cumulatively, the GeM has surpassed the Rs 3 lakh crore GMV since inception.

State News

1. Kerala has announced to establish the “Green Hydrogen Hubs” at a cost of Rs 200 crores.
   • The plants will be set up in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to produce 60 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
   • The project is to be implemented along with the private partner India Hydrogen Alliance.

2. Mr Manjunath Bhanjantri (District Commission of Deoghar, Jharkhand) has started the Deoghar Mart, an e-commerce website selling local arts and crafts.
   • Deoghar is famous for the ancient Baba Baidyanath Temple (one of the 12 Jyotirlingas).
   • Khortha and Santhali are the major tribes in Deoghar.
3. Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation has built MV Ganga Vihar, a floating restaurant at the NIT Ghat on the Ganges.
   • India’s first Floating Restaurant at Sirhind, Punjab was conceived and built in the early seventies. Right now, it is in shambles.
4. Yaya Tso, known as birds’ paradise for its beautiful lake located at an altitude of 4,820 metres, has been proposed as Ladakh’s first biodiversity heritage site (BHS) under the Biological Diversity Act of 2002.
   • The resolution was signed after multiple rounds of consultations between the village stakeholders and SECURE Himalaya project to declare the high-altitude lake and its catchment as a biodiversity heritage site.
   • Under Section 37 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the State Government in consultation with local bodies may notify the areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites.

5. Kerala Police is operating the OPERATION AAG under the Kerala anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA) to arrest fugitives.
6. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the “Mukhyamantri Tirth-Darshan Yojana” to provide the option of flights to senior citizens of the state.

International News

1. Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced a Global Climate Resilience Fund of $50 million for women to fight climate change.
   • The fund will empower women and communities to fight climate change and help provide new livelihood resources and education.
   • The Clinton Global Initiative has been launched with the American Indian foundation, SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association founded by late activist Ela Bhatt) and other organisations.
2. Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has the highest number of moons up to 92.
   • Saturn has the second highest number of moons up to 82.
3. Sri Lanka is celebrating 75 years of its independence on February 4 on the theme of Namo Namo Matha – A step towards a century.
4. Republic of Congo (simply Congo) has joined the International Solar Alliance as its 113th signatory.
   • Its neighbour, Democratic Republic of Congo is already a party to this agreement.

Reports and Indices

1. International Energy Agency (IEA) has released ‘LiFE lessons from India’ report to save $440 billion of the world by
   • The report highlighted that the saving would be equivalent to around 5% of all fuel spending across the global economy in a year.
   • Africa’s energy consumption is one-third of the world average, while India’s is 35%.

Banking and Economy

1. Alphabet Inc.’s Google has invested almost $400 million ($529.3 million) in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic (based in California), which is testing a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
2. US has emerged as India’s top destination for merchandise exports during April-December 2022 at USD 59.7 billion.
   • US was followed by UAE (USD 23.31 billion); Netherlands (USD 14.1 billion); China (USD 11 billion); Singapore and Bangladesh (about USD 9 billion each).
3. In reply to a question on startups, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash informed that Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) is implemented from April 2021.
   • Under the Scheme, Rs 477.25 crore has been approved to 133 incubators of which Rs 211.63 crore has been disbursed as on 31st December 2022.

Important Days

1. February 5 – Guru Ravidas Jayanti (his birthday falls on Magh Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Magh)

Awards

1. NASA Webb Telescope has won Prestigious Space Foundation.
   • The telescope was jointly developed by European Space Agency, NASA, and Canadian Space Agency. It is the successor of the Hubble telescope.
   • James Webb telescope found a new cluster of galaxies called SMACS 0723.

Sports

1. International Boxing Association (HQ – Lausanne, Switzerland) has released its world’s rankings as of February 8, 2023 –
   • 1st – Kazakhstan
   • 2nd – Uzbekistan
   • 3rd – India
2. D. Prajwal Dev and Nathan Seateun of France clinched the doubles final of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

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